The travel to this faraway land was long but time passed quicker than normally for Orion, Jem stopped his carriage near a small river so his horses could get some rest, the horses were carrying everyone for about 10 hours so naturally, they had to rest, Jem also laid down so he can rest too, Teras was awakened for hours, after seeing this strange dream he couldn't sleep, the others were still sleeping on top of each other
'They sleep like stray kittens'
Teras thought as he watched them, after some time he got out of the carriage and went to clean his face with the river's water, the water was freezing, it was early in the morning though so it was expected, Teras then started to practice his mana overload, it was a very useful tool so if he learned how to use it then it would prove to be essential in the future
'In the past, I tried to cause an explosion by charging my whole palm with mana but the results are different if I use a single spot'
Teras thought, he then channeled mana to his palm but only on a small part in the middle of his palm, an explosion then occurred, it wasn't as destructive and powerful as the others but it didn't drain all of Teras's mana and his hand wasn't injured in any way
"Whoa! I didn't expect this to work this well!"
Teras said
"What was that kid? Did anyone attack you?"
Jem asked, he had picked up a small axe and he was ready to fight
"Calm down uncle! I was just practicing a skill of mine"
Luck tried to explain
"What kind of skill sounds like a cannonball being shot at us?"
Jem asked as he slowly walked back to the carriage to sleep
'Turns out that I can't train at this hour, I will have to wait until we arrive at Yuka'
Luck thought, he then picked up his sword and started training with it since it didn't make any loud sounds, some time passed and everyone slowly woke up, the horses and Jem had taken enough rest
"Now that your fellas woke up we can travel to a field where slimes appear, so we can all feast"
Jem told Teras, he then quickly got into the carriage and Jem started taking them to the slime field, once they arrived they quickly slayed greens slimes and started a fire so they can cook them
"How do you cook a slime anyways?"
Teras asked Lia and Cara, those 2 were the ones cooking
"Don't you remember? You just boil water in a pot with their bodies and they produce a nutritious liquid which you can eat"
Lia explained
'How can I remember when I was sleeping?'
He asked himself
"This soup looks delicious! Nice work young ladies"
Jem told them with a sweet smile
"So uncle, about how many people populate your village?"
Teras asked him, Jem didn't seem excited to talk about his village
"We are about 60, half of them are kids or old like me, why do you ask?"
"Nothing, in particular, I just wanted to know"
Teras replied, but he lied, he did have a plan on his mind but he didn't want to reveal it just yet
"Uncle Jem, do you think that we are strong enough to fight off those bandits?"
Har asked the old man
"What can I say? I haven't seen your skills yet but you told me you took down a king slime so that means you have guts, but if you don't improve more then I think it will be a quite hard fight for you all"
Jem told them with a serious look
"The food is done here have a taste!"
Cara said as she offered Teras a spoon of soup, when Teras tried it he was left with a great feeling of satisfaction
"Hmm! What did you do? This doesn't taste the same as before, this time is a bit tastier and well-made"
Teras's comment made Cara very happy
"People say that if you cook with love the food will turn out better"
Lia said as she winked at Cara
"I guess..."
Teras replied cluelessly, he then took a wooden plate that Lia was carrying and started to fill it with food, the others took a plate too, and started eating, the day was cloudy but it didn't seem like it would rain
"What will we do with the remaining food? This food is enough to feed us all again"
Har said
"Don't worry kid, we have those 2 beasts over there that can eat anything you don't need"
Jem told him as he pointed at the horses he then took the cauldron that they used to cook the slimes and place it in front of the horses, the animals began to eat like maniacs
"I'm not an expert but isn't it bad to feed horses slime soup?"
Cara asked
"They will be fine..."
Jem answered carelessly, his response didn't seem right but she didn't have any choice but to accept it, after the food everyone got into the carriage and started moving closer to Yuta, inside the carriage it was very boring since nobody talked about anything, they all trained or simply gazed outside, hours passed and the group finally reached their desired location
YUTA VILLAGE
As they entered the village kids were gazing at them
"Look, Look we have visitors"
a small kid said, everyone seemed so enthusiastic to see new faces, after some time they arrived at the center of the village, the village was a simple one with the houses making a big circle around a big well which they used to drink clean water, the village had some old bars and workshop that were still running, the people inside the bar looked at them with a look of desperation
"Follow me I will introduce you to the others inside the bar"
Jem told them, after witnessing their depressed look the group was a bit discouraged, once they entered the bar all of their looks were focused on them
"Good morning fellas! Today I brought this amazing group of adventurers to help us!"
Jem told them, they didn't look excited
"What rank are they?"
the bartender asked, he was a brown-haired man with blue eyes and a beard
"I'm glad you asked Zak, this group is Orion, a bronze-ranked group..."
Everyone laughed when they heard their rank, it was a laugh of disappointment
"Are you serious Jem? Last time you brought a silver-ranked group and they gave up after the first day so what makes you think they can help us?"
Zak asked, he slowly exited the bar and started to get closer to Jem
"Because this time there is a reward!"
Jem told them, their look suddenly changed
"What the hell did you promise them?"
Zak asked in an angry tone
"I promised Julian's house to be theirs if they managed to save us"
After Zak heard that he grabbed Jem's clothes with aggression
"YOU DID WHAT? HE WAS OUR SAVIOR HOW DARE YOU?"
Zak yelled at him
"I HAD NO CHOICE! I CAN'T LET THOSE MONSTERS ABUSE US LIKE THIS!"
Jem yelled back at him, before things could get physical Teras stepped between them, and Har pulled Jem away from Zak
"Don't touch me!"
He said as he drawled out his blade, Teras also took out his sword
"Teras stop! Let's not fight our allies"
Cara told him, but Zak had other plans, he charged at Teras so Teras didn't have any choice but to protect himself, Zak tried to stab him but Teras deflected the attack and counter-attacked with a kick on his ribs
"Oh? it seems there is someone that can actually fight here"
Zak said with excitement, he tried to attack once again but people inside the bar stopped him
"Get out of here kids!"
a person screamed, so they quickly got outside the bar and went to relax on an empty hill
"What was all this behind there?"
Har asked
"You don't have to worry about our disagreement, your job is to fight off those people so when they come here I want you to fight them, if you can't do that I can take you back!"
Jem replied, it was clear that he was angry
"When do they usually get here?"
Lia asked
"About 2 P.M if I'm not wrong, until then I suggest you go and talk with the villagers because you will be living here so you have to have good ties with them"
Jem suggested, the group then left him there to relax and they decided to go back to the bar
"Guys I think it will be better to go there without me, I don't think the bartender likes me"
Teras told them, it was obvious so they didn't have a problem
'While they negotiate what am I supposed to do?'
Teras thought, as he was thinking he could hear a voice from the distance
"He is here, come and take a look"
it was a kid's voice
'Oh they are the same kids from before'
he thought as he saw them hiding behind a house
"Abort mission! He saw us!"
a kid said, the group of kids then began to run away
'fine! I will play along!'
Teras thought as he began to chase after them, it didn't take long before he reached them, and once he got in front of them a single boy got to his face with a wooden sword, the boy had brown hair and brown eyes
"I-I will t-take you down, criminal!"
He said as he pointed his wooden sword at him
"I'm not one of those bad guys, I'm here to help you"
Teras clarified but the kid didn't listen he simply charged at Teras, Teras grabbed his wooden sword and gently pushed him back, and he ended up falling from the push
"A real fighter doesn't need a weapon to fight!"
The kid said as he stood up
"Okay I give up so please don't hurt me!"
Teras said jokingly, the kid was mad
"Don't fool around with me you criminal! Fight the great Rex with all you got!"
the kid said
"Calm down Rex, he isn't an enemy he is the kind adventurer that will help us!"
Jem told to the kid
"Really?"
Rex asked with a surprised look
"Are you an adventurer?"
Rex then asked Teras with the same surprised look, Teras nodded, and after Teras's confirmation all of the kids looked excited
"Please tell us some of your adventures!"
a small girl asked him
"I can but we have to find a place to relax for now"
Teras said, the kids then quickly guided him to the same hill Jem was resting at, Teras then began telling them about the adventurers' exam and the king slime, but the thing that made them gasp was that Teras knew Tokkou
"So you are friends with the Grand Jack? That's so cool!"
Rex said, Teras was so happy seeing the enthusiasm of the kids, but after a while, his friends came to the hill with Zak
"Hey, Rex what are you doing with this man here? Didn't I tell you that it's dangerous out here? Everyone return to your houses"
Zak told to the kids
"Sorry Father, I will be going now Teras, have a great time here"
Rex said as he left
"He's your kid huh? He is very bright for his age!"
Teras told Zak but he ignored him
"We have to talk about the enemies you have to fight so please, let's keep all these things as a topic for later because it's about time they arrive"
Zak told Teras
"Wait it isn't 2 P.M. yet!"
Teras said
"Indeed, but a spy we sent located them near us and they are approaching us this moment so get ready to fight them"
Zak told him with a serious look, the others seemed serious too, so Teras got up and got ready for a fight
"They should be coming through the same road you came so you can either set up a surprise attack or negotiate with them, I don't care what you do but if you negotiate make sure the deal isn't one-sided towards them"
Zak told them, the group agreed
"I say we negotiate! It isn't smart to fight them head-on without knowing any of their skills"
Har suggested and the girls agreed too
"Stop talking they are coming!"
Zak told them as he saw them coming from afar, it seemed like they were carrying the monster with them
"Get ready to fight at any time"
Teras said as he began to walk toward the bandits